Call for Book Chapters: “Black migrations in Latin America -- Paths on the margins of History”

The History of Migrations in Latin America is often centered on the movement of European immigrant workers arriving from the late 19^th and mid-20^th centuries. However, the same period also marks an intense movement of Afro Latinos within the Americas. Called “The Great Migrations” in the United States of America, the theme is less explored in Spanish and Portuguese America, and the stories of Africans and their descendants moving around the continent, from one country to another or within the same country, are often excluded from narratives about immigrant communities. On the other hand, Latin American countries have a history of racism that rejects Blackness in favor of “ideologias de blanqueamento”, which made it more difficult to accommodate Black immigrants.

The book aims to shed some light in the history of Black migrations in Latin America and invites papers from scholars and graduate students that discuss various streams of Black migration – voluntary and forced – the conditions of the place of origin that made them leave and the challenges that immigrants faced in the receiving destination. 

We invite chapter proposals that chronicle the migration of Black populations in Spanish and Portuguese America. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Black migrations within the countries’ borders
• Slavery and forced migrations (slave trade and runaways)
• Afro-Caribbean Migrations to Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries in the Americas
• Black migration, culture and networks
• Black migration and gender
• Afro-Latino migrations to Canada and the United States
• Black migration and labor
• Race, class, and migration

Please submit a 300-word abstract and CV to Elaine Rocha at elaine.rocha@cavehill.uwi.edu by June 30, 2020. The complete paper should be in English and submitted by September 15, 2020. Submissions can expect to receive an answer three weeks after the first date.